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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney* H' e& _: D' @7 R4 Q
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Richard J. Brennan
/ S' n/ l' z9 K2 H. @National Affairs Writer
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3 G7 Z- q* C$ }Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.
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0 Z" p4 P0 w$ k; ^“We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told the Economic Club of Canada.
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0 F* p' ?4 h. X' f4 \) E, eKenney said some of the individuals are believed to have used “unscrupulous” immigration consultants who submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of people who did not meet the qualifications for citizenship.
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% q9 P2 b5 I: h. @9 h9 f! h DThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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1 s7 x. b; i6 @& G; ^Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.# W q. _$ e& w* Q6 O; U
" W( x* W9 @/ O7 b+ yMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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2 x# N7 x" c/ c4 S! F WSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.# O# H/ _- a' f, Y' ~
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“For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a … passport of convenience, who don’t pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that’s dishonourable,” he told reporters after delivering a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.5 J F7 o8 L- G0 } T( W3 }: k
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“There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from [bogus] asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers [or] people who are abusing our citizenship program,” he said.
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J. M! V4 X' o& ]$ L" pKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
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